The Dominican Republic is having a moment. Ten million tourists flock to the beaches yearly, helping to fuel considered one of the region’s best-performing economies. Poverty is near record lows and investment is at an all-time high. Even Fast & Furious Star Vin Diesel wants to construct a movie studio there.
Its success stands in stark contrast to the country on the opposite side of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, Haiti, where rising crime and violence are ruining the nation.
President Luis Abinader praises the boom within the Dominican Republic and points to his business-friendly and dramatic governing style, which has made the country a favourite of investors and tourists. This makes him the highest candidate within the presidential election on Sunday.
The vote was “a referendum on the actions we have taken over the last four years,” Abinader wrote in a social media post earlier this week. “The best is yet to come.”
The Dominican Republic’s economy is predicted to grow by 4.4% this yr. The country of 11 million people recently overtook Ecuador (18 million people) to turn out to be the seventh largest economy within the hemisphere.
But critics say the economic growth is linked to rising national debt, bloated social programs and fears that the chaos in Haiti could spread to the island.
“The government has been very good at marketing the idea of economic well-being that people on the street just don’t feel,” said Leonel Fernández, who was president from 1996 to 2000 and again from 2004 to 2012 and is the No. 2 contender within the vote this weekend.
Polls show inflation, the economy, crime and Haiti are amongst voters’ top concerns. But the identical polls also show that Abinader is on the right track for re-election.
According to a poll published by Gallup-RCC Media, Abinader and his Modern Revolution Party are expected to receive 60% of the vote, followed by Fernández and his People’s Force party with 25% Free diary on May ninth. Abel Martínez of the Dominican Liberation Party trails with 11% support. Other polls show a more in-depth race, but Abinader remains to be within the lead.
If a candidate receives greater than half of the votes, she or he is the winner. Otherwise, the highest two finishers will face off in a runoff on June 30, where Abinader could face a much closer race.
Abinader, 56, is aware of the risks Haiti poses to the Dominican Republic but rejects the concept his country has a special responsibility to repair its neighbor. Powerful gangs in Haiti have taken over large parts of the capital as violence and hunger have gripped the country. The country recently arrange an interim governing council and is expecting to welcome a Kenyan-led multinational security force, but chaos still reigns.
Although Haiti and the Dominican Republic share a 240-mile border, they’re worlds apart. Abinader is attempting to keep it that way by prioritizing constructing a border wall, increasing deportations and urging the international community to intervene.
Haiti “is one of the greatest challenges the Dominican Republic has faced in several decades,” Abinader said at an event in Washington last week. Strengthening border security has “depleted resources that we needed for economic development.”
Wall Street appears to approve of Abinader’s strategy. While he has increased the federal government’s debt burden by 30% during his time in office, the extra return investors demand for holding the country’s foreign bonds has increased by greater than since mid-2022, in accordance with data from JPMorgan Chase & Co. Barclays Plc and Barclays Plc down by half BancTrust recommends investors buy dollar-denominated securities. Asset managers from Vontobel Asset Management to M&G Investment Management to Eaton Vance also praise the country’s local bonds.
“The government has actually done a pretty good job, not just of pleasing investors but also of its own population,” said Carlos de Sousa, portfolio manager at Vontobel Asset Management in Zurich.
Tourism wave
Abinader was managing director of Grupo Abicor, a construction company owned by his family focused on tourism development, and director of the National Association of Hotels and Restaurants, before winning the 2020 election with 53% of the vote.
As president, he has remained in his wheelhouse. After the pandemic, the Dominican Republic reopened to tourists much sooner than most Caribbean countries and remains to be reaping the advantages. Last yr the country welcomed greater than 10 million visitors, a record. (International tourism has collapsed in Haiti as airlines have suspended flights and Royal Caribbean has suspended cruises to its private peninsula in Haiti.)
Abinader is promoting the industry to empower neglected parts of the country and diversify the economy. In total, in accordance with the federal government, there are 19 major projects price greater than $2.9 billion within the works – from cruise ports and airports to large hotel projects.
But for a lot of Dominicans, the influx of tourists isn’t related to progress, but reasonably with rising prices and gentrification. Housing costs rose 24% from 2020 to 2024, and the rise was even greater in tourist areas where there was an influx of foreign buyers.
“The general narrative in the country is that tourism will save us and bring us jobs and income,” said Moraima Capellán Pichardo, who works with an environmental group called Cabarete Sostenible. “But what we are seeing is people being displaced due to rising prices and houses being built that no local here could ever afford.”
Few projects meet the federal government’s strategy in addition to Punta Bergantín. On 2,400 hectares of beachfront land on the north coast, the federal government is promoting an eco-friendly resort that may include 4,000 hotel rooms, greater than 2,000 residences, a golf course, a hospital, a water park and a tennis club.
Tourism officials say they have already got commitments from Grupo Puntacana in collaboration with Melia Hotels International; Grupo Martinón, which operates the Hyatt Ziva and Hyatt Zilara brands; and Karisma Hotels.
Andrés Marranzini, who leads the Punta Bergantín project, says greater than half of the $800 million needed for the primary phase has been allocated.
The project may even include a 148-acre film property. Fast and Furious Star Diesel’s One Race Films signed a memorandum Reached an agreement with Abinader in 2021 to further develop it. One Race Firms referred calls in regards to the effort to its talent agency, which didn’t return emails and messages. Marranzini said the project “will definitely be carried out.”
Last month, officials announced that Bergantín may even include an innovation center called “Silicon Beach.” They envision bringing together government agencies, academia and the private sector to create a technology incubator and accelerator. Officials haven’t yet put a price tag on the complex.
One of the country’s larger goals is to turn out to be a semiconductor manufacturing hub for a U.S. market that’s attempting to break away from Asia. While that goal remains to be a ways off, such projects could attract the form of talent and workforce needed to make it occur, in accordance with Economy Minister Pável Isa Contreras.
Juan Ureña, a 74-year-old carpenter, visited Bergantín on a weekend after hearing campaign ads on the radio that led him to consider the world was able to welcome 1000’s of tourists and Hollywood stars. But apart from a newly paved road and an indication warning him to remain outside, there wasn’t much to see.
“They’ve been talking about this for years, but there’s nothing here,” Ureña said, standing next to a densely wooded beachfront property. “I feel like they’re just hyping this up to get our votes.”
The government says its broader vision for the country will take time and construction of Punta Bergantín will begin in earnest in August – the identical month Abinader hopes to start his second term.
